JAPANESE BANKING ON WILD OFFENSE

With two days of practice remaining, Japanese All-Star Coach Mikio Shinotake hopes he has enough time to get his "golden dragonfly formation" offense running smoothly.

He calls it the ultimate shotgun formation. He knows it will undergo the ultimate test Sunday when the Japanese meet William and Mary in the inaugural Epson Ivy Bowl.

Shinotake is something of a legendary football coach in Japan. His Nippon University Phoenix have won 18 national championships.

A gruff-speaking, bulldog of a man, Shinotake won this year's championship with offensive ingenuity: the golden dragonfly formation.

The offense places three quarterbacks in shotgun formation. The center snap can go to any one of the three.

The quarterback who takes the snap can pass or lateral to another quarterback, that quarterback can pass or lateral ... it is like a fleaflicker to the third power.

The problem is Shinotake did not have a full squad until Wednesday. Japanese football is divided into three divisions. The first division did not finish its playoffs until Tuesday.

"Each of the colleges picked two players for the All-Star game," Shinotake said. "Those players practiced at their own grounds until Tuesday. It will be difficult to get the All-Star team ready by Sunday."

Some coaches, especially those in the western part of Japan, refused to participate. They are of the opinion that Japan is not ready to compete against a U.S. college team.

That could change if the Japanese could figure out the U.S. practice structure.

First, the Japanese players buy their own equipment. If it breaks, it is patched together until the player can afford to buy a replacement.

Second, the coach does not attend all of the practices. He may show up twice a week. He works very closely with the team captain, however. The captain is in charge of daily workouts and conditioning.

So while the All-Star players were staying in shape, Shinotake was studying.

A group of coaches had been in Williamsburg for most of August, asking questions and collecting video. They attended the Tribe's 31-23 season-opening loss to Virginia, again asking questions and shooting video.

When Shinotake was selected head coach of the All-Star team, all of the answers and video were given to him.

He feels William and Mary's advantage is the size of its linemen.

"The backs are not that much different," he said. "The William and Mary linemen are much larger than the Japanese.

"William and Mary is a passing team. Now, we are hearing rumors that against us, they will play more of a power game with running plays.

"The coach, Jimmye Laycock, is obviously going to exploit the advantage of his linemen."

If he had his Phoenix offense with him, Shinotake thinks he could offset strength with guile. An all-star team will only heighten the strength advantage.

"The golden dragonfly formation was made for the Phoenix team," he said. "I will have to wait and see how far I can go with it with the All-Star team."

Like other members of the Japanese American Football Society, the coaching fraternity that selected the All-Stars, Shinotake hopes the game will boost popularity of football in Japan.

Only this year were the U.S. bowl games telecast in Japan. Negotiations are being completed to host a National Football League preseason game next summer. The Japanese university leagues are just now finding their results on newspaper sports pages.

"Still, football is not a popular sport," Shinotake said. "It is not understood well by most of the people."

To understand football, the Japanese have taken the approach of trying to understand why young men play it.

There have been very few questions about strategy and individual assignments. Instead, curiosity has centered on the mental aspects of the game. The Japanese seem determined to fathom why football is played, not how it is played.

At a Thursday evening press conference and reception, both teams were introduced, coaches offered remarks, and gifts were exchanged. The head of the Japanese American Football Society called football "the sport of the 21st century. This game will help Japan move into that century."

Several players from each team were asked what the game meant to them.

Scott Perkins, William and Mary's 260-pound offensive guard, spoke of the experience and the historic aspect.

Perkins will go up against a defensive tackle named Jiro Imai, a senior from Hitotsubashi.

Like most of the Japanese linemen, Imai is less than six feet tall and may weigh 200 pounds.

When asked what the game means to him, Imai bowed and said it is very important. "I will try my best, to the death," he said.